Stunting in children is often a question for parents when visiting a pediatrician. Listen the following explanation regarding causes of stunting in children and their characteristics.
Stunting is a condition when the child is shorter than other children his age, or in other words, the child's height is below the standard. The standard used as a reference is the growth curve made by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In Southeast Asia, Indonesia occupies the 3rd position for the highest number of stunting. In 2018, although the number decreased compared to previous years, there were still 3 out of 10 Indonesian children under five who were stunted.
Causes of Stuntingon Children
Stunting occurs due to lack of nutritional intake in children in the first 1000 days of life, namely since the child is still in the womb until the child is 2 years old. One of the causes is a lack of protein intake.
Stunting in children can be caused by problems during pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or after, such as inadequate complementary feeding.
In addition to poor nutrition, stunting can also be caused by poor environmental hygiene, so that children often get infections. Poor parenting also contributes to stunting. Poor parenting is often caused by the condition of the mother who is too young, or the distance between pregnancies is too close.
Characteristics of Children Having Stunting
Stunting in children will be seen from the stunted stature of children when they reach the age of 2 years, or shorter than children of the same age of the same sex. In addition to being short or stunted, children who are stunted also look thin. Although it looks short and thin, the child's body is still proportional. But keep in mind, not all short children are called stunting. well.
In addition to experiencing growth disorders, stunting in children also affects their development. Children with stunting will experience a decreased level of intelligence, speech disorders, and learning difficulties. As a result, children's performance in school will be poor. A further impact of stunting is on the future of the child, where it will be difficult to get a job when he grows up.
Children with stunting also have a low immune system, making it easier to get sick, especially due to infectious diseases. In addition, children who experience stunting will find it more difficult and take longer to recover when sick. Stunting also has a long-term impact on children's health. As an adult, children will be susceptible to diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
All of the characteristics of stunted children are actually the impact of lack of nutrition, frequent disease, and wrong parenting in the first 1000 days of life, which can actually be prevented but cannot be repeated.
Preventing Stunting in Children
As previously explained, growth and development disorders due to stunting are permanent, which means they cannot be overcome. However, this condition is very preventable, especially during the first 1000 days of a child's life, in the following ways:
- Meet the adequacy of maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, especially iron, folic acid, and iodine.
- Initiate early breastfeeding and provide exclusive breastfeeding.
- Complete knowledge about good complementary foods and apply it. In children, doctors may also be able to suggest additional nutritional supplements to increase the child's height.
- Get used to a clean and healthy lifestyle by washing hands with soap and water, especially before preparing food and after defecating or urinating, drinking water that is guaranteed to be clean, and washing eating utensils with dish soap. All of this is done to prevent children from contracting infectious diseases.
Mothers and fathers also need to check their little ones at the Posyandu or Puskesmas regularly, so that the stages of their growth can be monitored, and then compared with the growth curve from the WHO. This examination can detect failure to thrive and is recommended to be done every month for children under 1 year of age, and every 3 months for children aged 1-2 years.
In addition to monitoring height and weight, this routine check is also needed to evaluate the possibility of infection in children, such as intestinal worms, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections, and recurrent diarrhea.
Although stunting is a growth disorder condition that cannot be corrected, it is still important to treat it as early as possible so that the child's condition does not get worse. Consult a pediatrician immediately if your little one looks shorter than other children his age.
Written by:
dr. Fatimah Hidayati, Sp.A(Pediatrician)
